1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an identification badge. More particularly, the present invention relates to an identification badge which can be readily assembled and fastened to a user's clothing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many organizations have regular gatherings of large numbers of individuals such as at conventions or trade shows where products are sold or exhibited by member companies. Such conventions are important marketing tools for many firms. The attendance at these and other gatherings may total thousands of individuals and the sponsors of the convention as well as the participating firms are desirous of having detailed information regarding the attendees. Thus, identification badges may often be required to include the attendee's name, a company name and address, and other information which can be easily read visually and/or information that may be easily scanned or read by computer operated devices.
Heretofore, forms have been printed with this information and assembled into an identification badge which is worn by attendees. In addition, plastic cards have been produced which bear this information and which may be attached to a fastening means and either worn or carried by the attendee. The information on these identification badges varies with the type of gathering. In all cases, the importance of a visual identification of the attendees by convention officials, by the organizers, or by other attendees can be extremely important.
One of the most common badges used in the past is a card having a name or other identifying insignia placed on it. This card may be pre-printed, may be hand written or typed and is often enclosed in a transparent plastic cover or carried in a transparent holder or a holder with a transparent face. These holders typically have a pin attached or adapted to be attached to the identification holder and then to the clothing of the wearer.
At conventions, hundreds or even thousands of identification cards must be assembled quickly and accurately. The traditional method of preparing a printed card, manually inserting this card into a plastic envelope and then attaching a pin type holder or other type of fastening means is time consuming and costly. The frequent insertion and withdrawal of a pin as a fastening means may detrimentally affect the fabric of the user's clothing and its operation is troublesome and hazardous in terms of pricking of the user's finger each time he or she inserts or removes the identification badge.
Numerous attempts have been made by those skilled in the art to overcome the foregoing limitations. Typical prior art efforts to attain this end are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,070,002 to Cruver discloses an identification badge comprising a bowed sheet of metal formed with two parallel edges at the top and bottom of the front surface so as to accept a clear plastic layer. An identification card with appropriate information is inserted between this transparent layer and the metal badge holder so that the identification card can be seen through the clear plastic layer. A safety pin type fastener is soldered or attached to the back of this metal identification badge so that the badge can be attached to clothing.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,618,086 to Komorous discloses an identification badge comprising a single sheet of transparent plastic material which is folded so that the back wall faces the front wall and a portion of the front wall at the bottom of the badge is folded up and rearwardly to provide a receiving groove into which the lower edge of the back wall is inserted to form an envelope. Two rectangular slots are punched into the upper center portion of the back wall to receive a U-shaped fastening clip. An appropriately labeled name plate or name tag can be inserted either through the open sides of this assembly or inserted before the back wall is inserted into the bottom groove of the front section. The badge is fastened to an individual's clothing by slipping the U-shaped fastening clip over the free edge of some article of clothing. This badge requires assembly of a U-shaped fastening clip through small plastic slots, the insertion of an identification card and the assembly of the back wall of the badge into the groove of the front section in order to close the badge. This badge is susceptible to the identification card sliding and falling out of the badge holder as the wearer moves around.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,317 to Slavsky, discloses an identification badge formed of a single sheet of folded plastic material with a front flap and a rear flap. The rear flap is provided with a number of alternate fastening means for attaching the badge in different ways to a wearer's clothing. The identification badge is formed of a single sheet of flat, smooth stiff, plastic material. This sheet is folded around a horizontal fold line to form a front flap and a rear flap. Indicia, such as the name of the wearer, may be written directly upon the front of the badge using a crayon or ink marking pen. In an alternative embodiment, a channel may be adhesively secured to the front of the badge and a card or strip with printed identification information may be removably inserted into this channel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,237,326 to Naffin, discloses a badge holder comprising a flat sheet to which identification information is attached and a clip which is pivotally mounted to the back of the badge and is adapted to be detachable attached to an article of clothing. The front of the badge may bear any desired indicia to identify the person or to provide other information regarding the person or the organization. The clip may be permanently attached to the badge or it may be detachable. This disclosure is directed mainly to a clip for attaching a badge holder to an article of clothing, this clip being either permanently or removably attached to the identification portion of the badge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,971 to Morris, discloses a clip-on badge which is formed from a single piece of a light weight material such as aluminum. The display surface can be pre-printed or marked upon using an appropriate crayon or other marking pen. In addition, a retaining lip may be incorporated into this badge so that an identification card can be inserted and held in place by this retaining lip.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,183 to Abrahams, discloses a pin and clip fastener used to attach a transparent plastic identification holder to a wearer's clothing. The fastener is attached to the rear of the transparent plastic holder and an identification card is inserted between the front and rear walls so as to be visible through the front wall. The fastener incorporates both a pin and a pin arm. The pin can be pushed through a portion of a garment and then the pin arm engaged to a hook in the manner of a safety pin mechanism. If inserting a pin through an article of clothing is undesirable, then the identification badge can be slipped inwardly over an edge portion of a garment, which may be a pocket or other margin, and held therein by arms extending downward and parallel to the back of the identification badge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,254 to Haas, discloses a timing indicator used as part of a security badge. The badge is made of two parts, a front part being the face of the badge and the back part having stripes printed with a special ink that migrates through to the front portion. When the badge is issued, the self adhesive front portion is placed over the back part and the timing process begins. The ink passes or migrates through the badge to the front portion in a predetermined time period whereupon the printed stripes become visible, so indicating that the badge is no longer valid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,275 to Klein, discloses a hook and loop fabric badge containing identification indicia which can be worn by hospital personnel in a delivery room without posing a danger of scratching infants. The badge is comprised of a rectangular piece of the loop fabric which is attached via a rigid support member positioned over the loop fabric and with posts which extend through the loop fabric layer, through the fabric of the garment to be attached, and which are then terminated with fastening devices so as to hold the loop fabric layer to the garment. A hook fabric layer with identification indicia on the face is then brought into contact with the loop fabric layer so as to form the identification badge. When the surface containing the hooks is placed in face to face contact with the surface containing the loops, the hooks and loops engage and form a connection which is resistant to separation, except by peeling the hook fabric layer off.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,088 to Haas, discloses a timing indicator type badge, label or display wherein the relative amount of time that has elapsed from the initial activation of the timing indicator can be easily determined by the progression of a visually perceptible change in color along different areas of the timing indicator. This timing indicator comprises a clear self-adhesive film which is placed over a printed substrate in order to activate the timing indicator. The printed substrate includes a migrating or soluble ink which migrates through the adhesive layer until the indicia is visible at the surface of the clear film. The rate of dissolution of the migrating ink by the adhesive on the cover film determines whether the time interval is a few hours, a day, a week, etc. For each time interval, the relative darkening of indicator bands on the printed face of the badge or label shows the relative lapsed time since the badge was issued or activated.
German Patent No. 26 22 795 to Gunther, discloses a means of fastening an attaching clip to the back of an identification badge or identification card. The clip comprises an attaching means, a support plate, and an adhesive coating on one side of the support plate and the attaching clamp on the other side. A protective foil covers the adhesive layer. To attach the clip to the back of the identification card, this protective foil is removed and the adhesive layer is brought into contact with the back of the card thereby enabling the identification card to be attached to an individual's garment.
The present invention overcomes many of the drawbacks and deficiencies of the convention badges of the prior art and provides a unique, inexpensive, and easy to apply solution to preparing an identification badge.